Extreme weather survival tips

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers many useful tips on how to keep yourself and your family safe during periods of extreme cold and snowy conditions.

The following are items that should be included in a winter survival kit for your home:

Several days’ supply of food that needs no cooking or refrigeration, such as bread, crackers, cereal, canned foods. Remember baby food and formula if you have young children.

Water stored in clean containers, or purchased bottled water (5 gallons per person) in case your water pipes freeze and rupture.

Medicines that any family member may need.

An alternate way to heat your home during a power failure, such as dry firewood for a fireplace or wood stove, or kerosene for a kerosene heater.

A lot of extra blankets, matches and flashlights.

A battery-powered radio, battery-powered clock or watch and extra batteries.

Make sure your home is ready for an extreme cold emergency at all times. Although periods of extreme cold cannot always be predicted far in advance, weather forecasts can sometimes provide you with several days’ notice. Listen to weather forecasts regularly or be sure to check weather apps.

The following are items that should be included in a winter survival kit for your car:

Other ways to make sure your car is extreme-cold ready include having the radiator system serviced, replacing windshield-wiper fluid with a wintertime mixture, replacing any worn tires and keeping the gas tank near full to help avoid ice in the tank and fuel lines.

To get more safety tips from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, go to www.bt.cdc.gov.

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